Tick Tock, Goes The Clock
by Renchikara
Summary: 'Tick tock, goes the clock, screams are music in the night/Tick tock, goes the clock, I'm hiding here beyond your sight/Tick tock, goes the clock, then the time just stands still/Tick tock, goes the clock, and now you're the one I must kill.' Sachiko Shinozaki has found no justice. But she'll keep searching- and everyone will suffer because of this. That sounds fair to her.
1. P I: Tick Tock, Goes The Clock

**Okay, so... my first M rated FanFiction. This will be because of gore. After all, this IS _Corpse Party._  
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**This chapter is quite innocent next to the events in the future chapters. Well, this is before Sachiko became a psychotic lunatic, so I guess it makes sense.**

**WARNINGS: Lotsa gore comin' right up! Not in this particular chapter, but later. Do NOT read unless you can deal with that. Then again, anybody reading this has probably already read/watched/played _Corpse Party_, so you should already know what it's like by now.**

**This particular story is mainly set in the game universe (not entirely sure what this version is called- to YouTube fans, the one that PewDiePie, Cryaotic and probably lots of other YouTubers have played). It will also be a mix of the game and the anime, _Tortured Souls. _But if you're only familiar with the game/anime, you do not need to watch/play the other to understand this story, so don't worry.**

**Anyway, I should probably shut up now.**

**Allons-y!**

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><p><strong>PART I<strong>

**One-**

**Tick Tock, Goes The Clock**

The evening sunlight streams through the glass of the windows, catching the dark eyes of the small child skipping along the corridor. She stops to stare at the sky, gracefully shifting a stand of black hair that has fallen between her eyes so that it is now out of her face.

Sachiko Shinozaki likes the colour orange. She likes it even better when it is contrasted with a deeper red, almost a crimson. That is what she sees right now: a picturesque orange sky, complete with small, thin red clouds. She especially like it when she and her mother Yoshie count the clouds together, then try and make shapes out of them. Sachiko always tries to spot a feline shaped cloud, because she loves cats. In fact, if she's really lucky, her Okā-san might have bought her that cat plush she saw in that shop window. She begged Yoshie constantly for it.

As a child with few friends, Sachiko finds sanctuary in the imaginative world of playing games with her toys. It is to be expected for a child of her age. She like to bring the to school with her, but sometimes the other children find it funny to take her toys and hide them, or refuse to give them back by ganging up on her and shoving into a corner so she'll end up lying on the ground with tears in her eyes, watching as the children taunt her. Once, a particularly mean group of boys a year older cut up a white cat plush right in front of little Sachiko.

When she is bullied, she runs to her mother, the school nurse. Yoshie and Sachiko have an extremely strong bond and Sachiko's Okā-san can always make her feel better.

'Don't listen to them, Sa-chan,' Yoshie will say. 'I love you with all my heart.'

And Sachiko will reply, 'I love you too, Okā-san.'

Then they'll hug and everything will be alright, and Yoshie will take Sachiko home where she can read her darling child a wonderful bedtime story, full of exciting adventures in a mystical world...

But not today. Today there were no horrid incidents with the other children, so Sachiko never had to run and find her Okā-san so Yoshie could confort her. Instead, the teacher made everyone sing for Sachiko and the other children all had to be especially nice to her, because today is the nineteenth of July, Sachiko Shinozaki's birthday...

Sachiko blinks a few times as she stares at the clouds, far away and high above the earth, somewhere beyond the reach of anyone cruel, a place Sachiko sometimes dreams about. The new seven-year-old takes her eyes of the sky and continues down the corridor, heading for the staircase which will take her to the floor above where Yoshie's office is.

Sachiko closes her eyes and whispers, 'Please let Okā-san have gotten me that really nice kitty plush... please let Okā-san have gotten me that really nice kitty plush...' She chants this a few more times, a hopeful smile on her face. Yoshie had a strange twinkle in her eyes this morning on the way to school as she told Sachiko about the present the birthday girl will receive after school, which makes Sachiko think that maybe, just maybe, she'll get that cat plush she really wants... and if she does get it that she give her Okā-san the biggest hug ever, and she'll take the plush everywhere she goes, and she won't let anyone take it from her or destroy it, because that cat plush will become her best friend, a symbol of the love between her and her Okā-san...

A faint cry of alarm comes from the end of the corridor, and Sachiko can just make out a figure collapsing to the ground through the haze of light penetrating the windows to land on the ground in rectangular patches every few feet. The silhouette is crumpled on the floor at the bottom of the staircase leading to the floor above, the body lying sprawled out, the neck and head at a very weird angle in comparison to the rest of the body.

Sachiko doesn't understand. Is it a person? Why are they they not moving? She tentatively approaches the unmoving figure at the bottom of the stairs, the features of the body becoming more prominent as the seven-year-old draws closer.

Another figure, this one a bulky man that Sachiko recognises as the principal, comes down the steps, visibly shaking in the faint light. Sachiko halts, watching him confusedly. His eyes are hidden behind the lenses of his circular glasses, which are reflecting the light of the setting sun. He bends down to asses the situation, glancing up and down at the body, seeing for himself how serious the situation is.

'Shi... Shinozaki-kun... I didn't... I never meant for- oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Shinozaki-kun!'

It is at that point that the seven-year-old girl (who, as of yet, hasn't been noticed by the principal who is currently facing her) recognises broken figure at the bottom of the steps.

'Okā-san?' Sachiko asks, her big eyes open wide in fright.

The principal gives a violent jump, spinning around the face her.

The child freezes, her mind sent into a turmoil. _Is Ok__ā-san alright? Why isn't she moving? Did she fall? Okā-san?_

'Sachiko-kun,' the man breathes, his voice calm and rather cold. 'You... you saw, didn't you?'

Sachiko takes a step back, scared of the tone in his voice. _Okā... Okā-san... you have to wake up now..._

'You did see,' the principal says, abandoning the body at his feet as he slowly approaches Sachiko, her small form falling into his shadow.

The child continues to back away, the horror of what has happened beginning to grip her emotionally. She can feel a huge lump in her throat and there are tears welling in her eyes. Not to mention the terror rising within her, threatening to burst out in a scream. She's begging her mother now internally. _Okā-san, please wake up... please..._

'You just had to see, didn't you?' the principal murmurs, his voice coming out as a ghostly hiss. Sachiko finally lets out a tiny gasp of fear as the principal reaches down to grab her arm, before she spins around, ready to run as fight as her short, shaking legs will allow her. The principal hand closes around her thin, pale wrist. His grip is like steel, and there's no way the tiny girl will be able to escape his iron grasp. It's hopeless. It's over.

'Aaaah, no!' Sachiko wails, tugging desperately in the hope that a miracle will happen, that this man will release her and she'll be able to escape, that her Okā-san will rise up and save her and that everything will be okay... _Please, Okā-san! Please...!_

The principal pulls her closer, spinning her around. Sachiko catches one final glimpse of her mother behind the principle (still unmoving, never moving again) before the man's fingers close around her throat.

Sachiko's eyes burn with tears. She whimpers, her voice now choking out the noise. 'Aaaaahhhh... urghhh...'

_Can't breathe, can't-_

_ Can't-_

_ Can't BREATHE-_

_ O-_

_ Ok-_

_ Okā-_

_ Okā-san-_

_ Please-_

_ PLEASE-_

Her eyes roll back into her skull, catching one final glimpse of the orange light before it morphs into a crimson shade before finally fading into black.

_Please..._

_ Pleas..._

_ Plea..._

_ Ple..._

_ Pl..._

_ P..._

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><p><em><span><strong>Okā-san-<strong>_** an affectionate term for one's mother.  
><em><span>Chan-<span>_ an affectionate term for someone close to you, generally young and/or female.  
><em><span>Kun-<span>_ a suffix used when referring either to a male child/teenager, an affectionate term for a male member of the family or someone lower in status to you (for either gender).**

**Thank you for reading the first chapter ^^**

**Please remember to review. It should take you less than a minute, and I'm sure you could spare sixty seconds. ^^**


	2. P I: Screams Are Music In The Night

**Thanks to everyone who decided to read/follow/review/favourite! You guys are awesome!**

**As many people are unsure as to what exactly happened during the first few years after Sachiko's death, I'll just go ahead and give my own version of how I think everything happened. So, I guess we could say this is slight AU.**

**Allons-y!**

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><p><strong>PART I<strong>

**Two-**

**Screams Are Music In The Night**

_Okā-san… I want my Okā-san._

But no matter how many times Sachiko begs the silence all around her, her mother never appears. Instead, she is left to feel the tightening, cold fingers closing in on her throat constantly, the pain at her exact moment of death never leaving her.

Sachiko doesn't quite realise she is dead. Not at first. She wonders the empty hallways of Heavenly Host, crying out for her mother, for her teachers, even the other children whom she never really liked. She simply wants someone to come and find her, to save her from this agonising paint that always feels as if it's draining the life out of her.

The sunset never ends. The world stays still at that precise moment of her death, and Sachiko is completely alone. She's too scared to leave the school. What if that horrible man is out there, waiting to hurt her again? She hasn't seen him since everything blacked out. And when colour returned to her vision and she found herself standing in the hallway where he attacked her, he was nowhere to be seen. She's gone to the bottom of that dreadful staircase hundreds of times, but she can't see her mother.

_Okā-san must have left. But why would she leave without me?_

'Okā-san!' the little girl wails, falling to her knees at the foot of the steps, knowing that this is where her mother's broken body lay right before the principle came at Sachiko and killed her-

'N-no…' Sachiko moans. 'Ok-k-kā-san… I don't want t-to b-b-be dead. P-please come b-back, Okā-san! I want t-t-to g-go home n-n-n-now…'

'_**Sa–chan...'**_

Sachiko's head looks up in alarm, the tears on her pale face halting for a second. 'Okā-san?' she gasps.

'_**Sa–chan… is… my... pride... and… joy…'**_

Sachiko immediately realises where the voice is coming from. Her mother must be in her office, the sick bay where the ill children go. Sachiko has not thought to search there yet.

'Okā-san!' she yells, getting to her feet. She races up the stairs, tripping a couple of times. Under normal circumstances, Sachiko would stay where she had fallen and start crying, but she is too desperate to see Yoshie, her mother. After all, once she's there, her Okā-san will be able to kiss the bruises better for her!

Sachiko pauses outside the door, hearing absolutely nothing inside. Is Yoshie really there? Will Sachiko be able to see her?

'_**I'm so lonely… I think I'm dead. That horrid man tried to… tried to…'**_

'Okā-san!' Sachiko cries, her eyes brimming with relieved tears. 'I'm here!'

'_**He pushed me down the stairs,' **_Yoshie's voice continues, growing bitter and mournful. _**'And then he hurt my Sa-chan. He's killed her, too. That evil man took our lives.'**_

'Okā-san… I'm right here,' Sachiko says, leaning on tiptoes to reach for the door handle. She observes the room, trying to spot her mother. She's got to be here, right? Sachiko can hear her, and she misses her so much…

'_**My poor little Sa-chan… she was seven years old today. She had her whole life ahead of her. I couldn't even give her that plush she wanted for her birthday. She's gone, and I can no longer see her,' **_Yoshie's voice echoes around the room. Sachiko stares at her mother's desk, expecting her to be sitting at it. But there's no one there. The whole room is empty of any life other than Sachiko, and the little girl doesn't really count anyway, as she is no longer alive. There's no one at the old, wooden medicine cabinets, no one straightening the sheets on the bed. Yoshie simply cannot be perceived by Sachiko, other than her ringing, distant voice.

'Okā-san… I'm right here,' Sachiko whispers, more tears beginning to stream down her face like they did before. 'Where are you…?'

'_**We're both dead, but trapped in separate places…' **_Yoshie continues. _**'Why? Why can't I see my little Sa-chan? She must be so frightened and alone…'**_

Sachiko crouches down against the wall and begins sobbing, hating how upset her mother sounds. 'I don't want to be alone, Okā-san… I w-want t-t-to be with y-y-you…'

'_**Alone… so alone…' **_Yoshie whispers.

_Don't be upset, Okā-san. Why can't you see me? Why can't you hear me? Where are you? I don't want to be alone. I don't want you to be alone. I wish other people were here with us…_

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><p>Eventually, Sachiko manages to gain enough energy to manifest inside the dreams of those who knew of her, back when she was alive.<p>

The first is a young girl, barely a woman, who used to make delicious ice creams for Sachiko whenever she and her mother went for a trip to the beach. Sachiko remembers how nice this lady used to be to both herself and her mother, so she decides that this woman can keep them company.

Sachiko isn't sure where the power is actually coming from. She realises that when she misses her mother, when she thinks about the life she could still be living, the pain around her throat becomes stronger, but she is able to leave the school, if only for a little bit, to travel into dreams.

While in the dream of the girl in question, Sachiko plants an idea. She decides to create a charm that will bring this girl to the school to keep her mother company. Sachiko hates how upset Yoshie sounds whenever she walks past the infirmary door and hears her mother moaning on the other side. Yoshie needs friends, young people at that. Yoshie always loved spending time with children, after all.

Sachiko is delighted when the ice cream girl introduces to her friends at her high school an idea called the Sachiko Ever After charm. This charm will ensure that the children will friends forever.

Sachiko is aware that these people might not want to come to the school, so she does a bit of lying (which she knows is wrong, but her mother is no longer here to scold her). She creates the charm in such a way that if they say 'Sachiko, we beg of you' one time for each person performing the charm, they will be brought to Heavenly Host. If they say it one more time for Sachiko herself, the charm will ensure that they will be friends forever and that they will remain in their world.

Sachiko wants them to come to the school, so she makes sure they perform it incorrectly and forget to say it another time for herself.

_Is this mean, bringing them here? Are people going to miss them in the other world? But Okā-san is so lonely, and I want her to be happy. I have to do this._

Sachiko is delighted when she senses the souls of six high school students enter the school. It means that she won't be alone, Yoshie won't be alone, and they can all stay here forever!

But the kids are frightened, and even more so when they catch sight of Sachiko. They call her a ghost. They cry out that they want to go home, and that being here is very, very bad. Sachiko is distraught. Are they going to leave? How can she make sure that they won't leave her and Yoshie all by themselves?

_Maybe they have to be like Okā-san and me. Maybe they have to…_

_ … die._

Before Sachiko even properly realises what she is doing, she has entered her old classroom and has pulled a large, grey pair of sewing scissors. It's as of her brain has kind of shut down and a vicious instinct has taken control. In fact, it's almost as if she's daydreaming while this is happening, and she is unaware of her actions. A seven-year-old like herself should never, ever be finding themselves in this position, but when her brain finally catches up and the childish little dream ends, her dress is no longer fully while. In fact, now it has rips in it and there are red splashes of some sort of liquid all over it. The blades of the scissors are covered in the dripping, crimson water and before her lies a monstrous sight.

Sachiko screams as she realises what she has done. Her whole world caves around her. She begins to hyperventilate, finding it as difficult to breath as it was when that evil principle was strangling her, because now it feels as if his fingers are squeezing her throat once more-

'I can't- I can't have-'

Their bodies are sliced up quite badly. Their throats are slashed; certain limbs have been detached from their bodies; their faces are stretched around their mouths, their final screams still echoing around the room like the end of a vibrato. The little girl collapses to her knees, a fully-fledged panic attack taking a grip of her as she surveys the carnage.

_Okā-san! Okā-san! I can't take it! I'm scared, I'm scared, I'M SCARED._

She can feel it too. Since the moment of her death, her soul has become a part of the school, locked in that precise moment of her death, and vice versa. These people now belong here too. She can feels their souls already wondering the empty hallways, their screams continuing in fierce, questioning desperation. They're scared and confused, just like her. They don't understand why they've died, or why they're still in so much pain.

Just like her.

Sachiko stands up, her usually neat and tidy black hair now strewn all over her face, casting her eyes under the cover of shadows.

These people belong here now. They're with Sachiko and Yoshie.

_We'll be together forever._

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><p><strong>According to Yoshie's diary in the game, Sachiko definitely started killing people before the incident with Tokiko, Ryou and Yuki. Before the brutal murders of the three children, I am to assume that Heavenly Host did not appear as it does today (night time and raining) because that incident was still twenty years away from happening by this point.<strong>

**Naho didn't actually create the charm, or else people wouldn't have been sent to Heavenly Host before she and Kibiki ventured there. Therefore, I'm making it so Sachiko herself made it.**


End file.
